2023 WSOP Day 8: Calvin Anderson Spins It Up in the High Roller

Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor
5 min read
Calvin Anderson

Day 8 of the 2023 World Series of Poker (WSOP) at the Horseshoe and Paris Las Vegas saw another three players capture gold WSOP bracelets, while four other events saw their field whittled to a more manageable number of runners.

Jeremy Eyer is on cloud nine right now having taken down Event #12: $5,000 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout. Eyer came out on top of a 735-strong field to become a WSOP champion for the first time; his victory also came with a bankroll-boosting $649,550 prize.

Event #13: $600 Pot-Limit Omaha Deepstack also crowned its champion, and that winner was none other than Joseph Altomonte. Some 3,200 players entered this event, a record turnout for a WSOP PLO tournament, and Altomonte left them all in his wake. Turning $600 into a $217,102 score plus a coveted gold bracelet is one hell of a return.

The fourth online bracelet-awarding event, the $600 No-Limit Hold'em Ultra Deepstack, may have taken 13 hours to complete due to 1,031 entries, but when the curtain finally came down, it was Danny "jackdaniels1" Wong who had all of the chips in play in their possession. Wong's reward? A first career bracelet and $130,648.

High-Stakes Gurus Turn Out in Force for the $25K High Roller

Some 264 elite-level poker players bought into Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed) but only 93 of them had chips requiring bagging and tagging at the end of the eighth level. Topping the chip counts at the end of Day 1 was Calvin Anderson.

Anderson channelled his inner Phil Hellmuth and bought in fashionably late during the second half of proceedings. Within three levels, Anderson had span his 150,000 starting stack into a tournament-leading 1,609,000, or 161 big blinds if you prefer.

The two-time WSOP bracelet winner leads from Freddy Deeb (1,440,000) and Brian Kim (1,291,000), who are on the overnight podium, while Isaac Haxton (1,195,000), and Alex Nguyen (1,060,000) also bagged up seven-figure stacks.

As you would expect, the field is littered with household names. Such luminaries as recent bracelet winner Alexandre Vuilleumier (774,000), Joao Vieira (620,000), Danny Tang (564,000), Stephen Chidwick (426,000), Adrian Mateos (389,000), reigning WSOP Main Event champion Espen Jorstad (377,000), Erik Seidel (248,000), and a short-stacked Daniel Negreanu (90,000) were among the Day 1 survivors.

Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed) Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Calvin AndersonUnited States1,609,000161
2Freddy DeebUnited States1,440,000144
3Brian KimUnited States1,291,000129
4Isaac HaxtonUnited States1,195,000120
5Alex NguyenUnited States1,060,000106
6Calvin LeeUnited States979,00098
7Ting-Yi TsaiTaiwan947,00095
8Biao DingUnited States790,00079
9Nick MaimoneUnited States783,00078
10Eric WassersonUnited States780,00078

Day 2 shuffles up and deals at 12:00 p.m. local time, which is when late registration slams shut. The players sit down in Level 9, meaning blinds of 5,000/10,000 and a big blind ante of 10,000.

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Max Hoffman Leads the Final 13 in the Seven Card Stud Championship

Max Hoffman
Max Hoffman

Max Hoffman (1,522,000) holds the chip lead going into the final day of Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship where only 13 players remain in contention for the tournament's bracelet and $311,433 top prize.

Hoffman is one of two players armed with a seven-figure stack, Maxx Coleman (1,238,000) being the other.

No fewer than eight of the final 13 already own at least one piece of poker jewellery, including the aforementioned Coleman. Brian Yoon (800,000), Ben Diebold (684,000), David "Bakes" Baker (586,000), Chad Eveslage (472,000), Ben Yu (422,000), Alex Livingston (309,000), and Julien Martini (273,000) are all looking to add to their collection of WSOP hardware.

Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip Count
1Max HoffmanUnited States1,522,000
2Maxx ColemanUnited States1,238,000
3Brian YoonUnited States800,000
4Johannes BeckerGermany744,000
5Ben DieboldUnited States684,000
6George AlexanderUnited States652,000
7David "Bakes" BakerUnited States586,000
8Chad EveslageUnited States472,000
9Ben YuUnited States422,000
10Dan ShakUnited States417,000
11Alex LivingstonCanada309,000
12Leonard AugustUnited States299,000
13Julien MartiniFrance273,000

The players return to their seats from 1:00 p.m. on June 7, and the action continues for as long as it takes to crown a champion.

Former Champ Reaches Day 2 of the 6-Max NLHE

Bradley Jansen
Bradley Jansen

Only 161 of the 2,454 starters managed to progress to Day 2 of Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em, and the champion of this tournament from 2021, Bradley Jansen (651,000) is among them.

Jansen's impressive day at the felt sees him return on Day 2 with a top 20 stack and with a realistic chance of becoming a two-time WSOP champion.

However, Brandon Hall will have something to say about that happening because he bagged and tagged a colossal stack of 1,440,000 chips to claim the overnight chip lead. Only Stevens Chen (1,100,000) finished with more than one million chips.

Others still in the hunt include Allan Le (800,000), Matthew Wantman (774,000), Upeshka De Silva (709,000), John Monnette (640,000), Maria Ho (409,000), and Joseph Cheong (236,000).

Event #15: $1,500 6-Handed No-Limit Hold'em Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Brandon HallUnited States1,440,000144
2Stevens ChenUnited States1,100,000110
3Mathew MooreUnited States924,00092
4Allan LeUnited States800,00080
5Michael JagrooUnited States798,00080
6Matthew WantmanUnited States774,00077
7Adam SwanUnited States765,00077
8Jack O'NeillUnited Kingdom762,00076
9Eduardo Bernal SanchezColombia762,00076
10Dorian RiosVenezuela752,00075

Play resumes at 10:00 a.m. local time on June 7 with the blinds at 5,000/10,000 and a 10,000 big blind ante.

Charismatic Chris Tryba Among a Bunch of Omaha Hi-Low Specialists Progressing to Day 2

Chris Tryba
Chris Tryba

A record-breaking field of 1,143 players entered Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo 8 or Better but only 394 of those starters progressed to Day 2 after the completion of 15 levels.

Chris Tryba (146,500) enjoyed himself throughout proceedings and has bagged up an ample stack that should see him go much deeper in this event.

Although Tryba will be happy with his performance, his stack is almost half the size of the overnight chip leader, Adel Shakerian (239,000). Benjamin Vidal (210,500) and Colin Burton (202,500) ended Day 1 with over 200,000 chips each.

Plenty of talented players found a bag on the opening day of this popular event. Look out for Connor Drinan (157,000), Ismael Bojang (145,000), Max Pescatori (130,000), Linda Johnson (129,000), Marco Johnson (120,500), and Mike Matusow (68,500) on Day 2.

Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better Top 10 Chip Counts

RankPlayerCountryChip CountBig Blinds
1Adel ShakerianUnited States239,00060
2Benjamin VidalUnited States210,50053
3Colin BurtonCanada202,50051
4Sergey ZaporozhetsRussia187,00047
5Nitesh RawtaniUnited States177,50044
6Jason DalyUnited States176,50044
7Ryan ScullyUnited States175,00044
8Smith SirisakornUnited States169,00042
9Hlias AzakasUnited States167,00042
10Glen MunroUnited States166,50042

PokerNews' coverage of this event resumes at 1:00 p.m. local time on June 7, so join us then for all the action, as it happens, from the $1,500 Omaha Hi-Lo event.

What to Expect on Day 9 of the 2023 WSOP

June 7 is the ninth day of the 2023 WSOP, and although we risk sounding like a broken record, Day 9 is going to be a busy one!

Event #14: $10,000 Seven Card Stud Championship will crown its champion, while we will be closer to learning who the winner of Event #15: $1,500 No-Limit Hold'em 6-Handed is.

Follow all the action from Day 2 of Event #16: $25,000 High Roller (8-Handed), and the second day of Event #17: $1,500 Omaha Hi-Low 8 or Better.

That's not all because three fresh events shuffle up and deal in their respective Day 1s. PokerNews is reporting from Event #18: $300 Gladiators of Poker, Event #19: $2,500 No-Limit Hold'em Freezeout, and Event #20: $1,500 Badugi!

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Matthew Pitt
Senior Editor

Matthew Pitt hails from Leeds, West Yorkshire, in the United Kingdom, and has worked in the poker industry since 2008, and worked for PokerNews since 2010. In September 2010, he became the editor of PokerNews. Matthew stepped away from live reporting duties in 2015, and now concentrates on his role of Senior Editor for the PokerNews.

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